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Tar Heels nip ND, run win streak to 12

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina was coasting here on Monday night against Notre Dame, cruising towards its 12th consecutive victory and its longest conference winning streak in nearly 30 years.

Maybe that was part of the problem, though – that UNC appeared so effortless while it built a double-digit lead in the first half. The Fighting Irish came back early in the second, erased a 14-point deficit in the span of about five minutes, and then made UNC work for an 63-61 victory at the Smith Center.

It was a victory, though, nonetheless – UNC’s 12 consecutive after starting 1-4 in the ACC. The last time UNC won as many conference games in a row was during the 1986-87 season, when it finished the regular season 14-0.

For about 20 minutes here on Monday night, it seemed like victory was a foregone conclusion for the Tar Heels (23-7, 13-4 ACC). But they won despite an ugly second half, won in which they scored just 22 points and escaped only after Marcus Paige, the sophomore guard, blocked Eric Atkins’ shot at the rim.

Paige made the game-winning shot in the Tar Heels’ 85-84 overtime victory at N.C. State last week. This time, it was his defense that preserved a victory.

Notre Dame (15-16, 6-12) had a chance to tie it in the final seconds after Paige, an 89 percent free throw shooter, missed two free throws in the final 17 seconds. Paige finished with seven points – his second consecutive game in single-digits after scoring 35 at N.C. State.

Even so, the points he did score were important. It turned out that UNC needed all of them.

With six minutes left and the game tied at 50, Paige gave the Tar Heels a lead with a short jumper. Tom Knight, the Notre Dame forward, tied it again on the other end and that’s how the latter part of the second half went – back and forth and back again.

The game had four ties and four lead changes – all in the second half – until UNC took the lead for good on James Michael McAdoo’s spinning turnaround in the lane with three minutes to play. McAdoo, who led UNC with 14 points, scored after an effective entry pass from Paige, who finished with six assists.

Paige came up with a steal on the other end, and Brice Johnson, the sophomore forward, made a reverse layup with two minutes, 25 seconds to play. Fouled on the play, Johnson missed the free throw and the Tar Heels led 59-56 with less than 2 ½ minutes left.

Notre Dame, which couldn’t miss earlier in the half, then missed a 3 and UNC worked the clock until J.P. Tokoto, the sophomore forward, pulled up and made a short jump shot to give the Tar Heels a 61-56 lead with 1 minute, 28 seconds left.

The Fighting Irish wasn’t done, though. After Eric Atkins missed a 3-pointer, Pat Connaughton made a layup off the rebound. Fouled on the play, he made the free throw to cut UNC’s lead to 61-59 with less than a minute left. The Fighting Irish cut UNC’s lead to one, 62-61, after Paige went 1-for-2 from the line, but UNC held on.

The Tar Heels’ 22 second-half points tied their fewest in a half this season, and UNC made nine field goals in the second half and shot 40.9 percent in the second half after shooting 50 percent in the first. The Tar Heels led by as many as 15 in the first half, and by 14 at halftime.

Notre Dame, though, quickly erased that behind a strong effort from Connaughton, a junior guard who scored 10 points in the first 3 ½ minutes of the second half. He finished with 17 points and Atkins led all scorers with 21.